Parliamentary elections to both the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

were held in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

on 25 October 2015 for the eighth term of the

of the Republic of Poland, which ran from 12 November 2015 until 2019. The election was won by the largest opposition party, the right-wing

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct s ...

(PiS), with 37.6% of the vote against the governing Civic Platform (PO), which achieved 24.1%. Official results, announced on 27 October, gave Law and Justice 235 of 460 seats (51 percent), a majority of four. PiS vice chairwoman Beata Szydło succeeded PO leader

Ewa Kopacz Ewa Bożena Kopacz (; née Lis; born 3 December 1956) is a Polish politician who has served as a Vice-President of the European Parliament since 2019. She previously was Marshal of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014, the first woman to hold the office, as ...

as Prime Minister of Poland, heading a one-party

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. It was the first election for a national parliament in Europe since the 1993 Norwegian elections in which the two largest parties were led by a female candidate, and the second election in history (also since the 1993 Norwegian election) where more than three parties fielded female leadership candidates. It was also the first election in Poland since the restoration of full democracy that a party won an absolute majority in the Sejm.

Electoral system

The process of election for the Sejm is through

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party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be u ...

via the

D'hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highes ...

in multi-seat constituencies, with a 5% national threshold for single parties and 8% threshold for coalitions (requirements waived for ethnic minorities). The senate is elected using

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast the ...

single-member district A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vo ...

s. To be included on a

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16 ...

, a senate candidate must present 2,000 signatures of support from their constituents. For Sejm elections, the threshold is 5,000 signatures per constituency, though that requirement is waived for parties that have already registered lists in at least half of all constituencies (21 out of 41 as of this election). Overall, the Sejm includes 460 MPs. Should a party have 231 or more deputies in Parliament, it has an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...

and can thus govern autonomously, without the need for support from other parties. The constitution can be amended with a

supermajority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...

of two-thirds, or 307 deputies.

Election date

The date of the election, 25 October, was set by the previous President of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski. The latest possible date for the election to be held was in November 2015, four years after the previous election. Prior to the announcement of the election date, the most likely dates were thought to be in October or November. In the previous parliamentary elections in 2011 the Civic Platform– Polish People's Party coalition government, in power since 2007, won a second term. All 460 seats in the Sejm and 100 seats in the Senate were up for election.

Parties standing in the election

Nationwide committees

Regional committees

Opinion polls

Results

The opposition party,

won the election with 37.58% of the vote against the governing Civic Platform, which gained a 24.09% share. Beata Szydło became the new

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

, succeeding

. Law and Justice became the first party in Poland to win majority government in a free election, since 1991. The other parties considered winners were two newcomer parties, Kukiz's Movement (third place) and Ryszard Petru's

Modern Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

party (4th place). Two of the biggest losers were Civic Platform and the Polish People's Party. PO suffered its worst result in a parliamentary election in ten years, ending eight years of political dominance. The PSL, the junior partner in the outgoing government, had its worst result in 25 years (5.13%), just crossing the 5% threshold by a few thousand votes. Another perceived loser was the Democratic Left Alliance, Poland's largest left-wing party, which failed to win a seat for the first time since the change of system. The SLD ran as the largest partner of the United Left, which was 0.5% short of the 8% threshold for electoral alliances to win seats.

Sejm

Party breakdown

, - style="background-color:#C0DBFC; text-align:center;" ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Parties and coalitions ! Votes ! % ! Seats , - , rowspan="6" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 4,487,339 , 29.52 , 193 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 746,474 , 4.91 , 26 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Solidary Poland , 277,622 , 1.83 , 9 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Poland Together , 145,358 , 0.96 , 6 , - , style="background-color:#021C72;", , style="text-align:left;", Right Wing of the Republic , 48,442 , 0.32 , 1 , - , style="background-color:#008000;", , style="text-align:left;", Piast Faction , 6,452 , 0.04 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 5,711,687 , 37.58 , 235 , - , rowspan="3" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Civic Platform , 3,142,767 , 20.68 , 126 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 516,457 , 3.40 , 12 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish People's Party* , 2,250 , 0.01 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 3,661,474 , 24.09 , 138 , - , rowspan="12" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 1,207,419 , 7.94 , 37 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", National Movement , 73,641 , 0.48 , 3 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Congress of the New Right* , 25,831 , 0.17 , 1 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Real Politics Union , 12,080 , 0.08 , 1 , - , style="background-color:#3DD4C7;", , style="text-align:left;",

Direct Democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are repres ...

, 7,611 , 0.05 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#021C72;", , style="text-align:left;", Right Wing of the Republic , 4,409 , 0.03 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

Self-Defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force ...

* , 2,138 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#F6B800;", , style="text-align:left;", Libertarian Party , 1,664 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Poland Together , 1,306 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#083A7F;", , style="text-align:left;", Labour Faction , 1,061 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Solidary Poland , 1,012 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Community , 922 , 0.01 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 1,339,094 , 8.81 , 42 , - , rowspan="5" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 965,130 , 6.40 , 23 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", .Modern , 185,188 , 1.22 , 5 , - , style="background-color:blue;", , style="text-align:left;", Women's Party , 3,707 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish People's Party* , 875 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Civic Platform* , 470 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 1,155,370 , 7.60 , 28 , - , rowspan="11" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Democratic Left Alliance , 694,150 , 4.57 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Your Movement , 220,326 , 1.45 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 164,345 , 1.08 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", The Greens , 35,292 , 0.23 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Labour Union , 18,181 , 0.12 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Alliance of Democrats , 3,796 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish Socialist Party , 3,621 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish Labour Party - August 80 , 3,586 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Social Democracy of Poland , 1,600 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#007FFF;", , style="text-align:left;", National Party of Retirees and Pensioners , 1,098 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Democratic Party – demokraci.pl , 850 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 1,147,102 , 7.55 , 0 , - , rowspan="2" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Polish People's Party , 673,483 , 4.43 , 16 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 106,392 , 0.70 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 779,875 , 5.13 , 16 , - , rowspan="5" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", KORWiN , 480,029 , 3.16 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 231,810 , 1.52 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Congress of the New Right* , 8,085 , 0.05 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", National Movement , 2,919 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#F6B800;", , style="text-align:left;", Libertarian Party , 88 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 722,999 , 4.76 , 0 , - , rowspan="2" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Together , 501,195 , 3.30 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 49,154 , 0.32 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 550,349 , 3.62 , 0 , - , rowspan="1" style="background-color:#000000;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 42,731 , 0.28 , 0 , - style="background-color:#000000; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Committee of Zbigniew Stonoga , 42,731 , 0.28 , 0 , - , rowspan="1" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 27,530 , 0.18 , 1 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 27,530 , 0.18 , 1 , - , rowspan="1" style="background-color:#F0D719;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 18,668 , 0.12 , 0 , - style="background-color:#F0D719;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", United for Silesia , 18,668 , 0.12 , 0 , - , rowspan="2" style="background-color:#2C4D94;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 15,234 , 0.10 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#007FFF;", , style="text-align:left;", National Party of Retirees and Pensioners , 422 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:#2C4D94; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", JOW Bezpartyjni , 15,656 , 0.10 , 0 , - , rowspan="13" style="background-color:#A52A2A;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 11,228 , 0.07 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#CC0000;", , style="text-align:left;", Unity of the Nation , 520 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Real Politics Union , 477 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Congress of the New Right* , 356 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#0000CC;", , style="text-align:left;", Popular National Alliance , 115 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", National Movement , 139 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Solidary Poland , 77 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

League of Polish Families The League of Polish Families ( Polish: ''Liga Polskich Rodzin'', LPR) is a conservative political party in Poland, with many far-right elements in the past. The party's original ideology was that of the National Democracy movement which was hea ...

, 55 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Community , 50 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

* , 43 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#000099;", , style="text-align:left;", National Alliance of the Name of Dmowski Roman , 27 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000;", , style="text-align:left;", Brave Dad , 14 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#021C72;", , style="text-align:left;", Right Wing of the Republic , 12 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:#A52A2A; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Committee of Grzegorz Braun "God Bless You!" , 13,113 , 0.09 , 0 , - , rowspan="2" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Congress of the New Right , 2,850 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 2,002 , 0.01 , 0 , - style="background-color:; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 4,852 , 0.03 , 0 , - , rowspan="2" style="background-color:;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 2,660 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 1,606 , 0.01 , 0 , - style="background-color:;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", , 4,266 , 0.03 , 0 , - , rowspan="4" style="background-color:#FF0000;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:#FF0000;", , style="text-align:left;", Social Justice Movement , 2,753 , 0.02 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 986 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000;", , style="text-align:left;", White-Red , 192 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:#FFFF00;", , style="text-align:left;", Freedom and Equality , 10 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:#FF0000; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Social Movement of the Republic of Poland , 3,941 , 0.03 , 0 , - , rowspan="3" style="background-color:#D20000;border-bottom-style:hidden;" , , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Independents , 1,790 , 0.01 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Alliance of Democrats , 155 , 0.00 , 0 , - , style="background-color:;", , style="text-align:left;", Civic Platform* , 19 , 0.00 , 0 , - style="background-color:#D20000; color:white;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Citizens to Parliament , 1,964 , 0.01 , 0 , - , colspan="6" style="text-align:left;", Source
National Electoral Commission
* – individual members running on lists different from their own parties

By constituency

Senate

Reactions

Political analysts noted that the election marked the first time in the post-communist era that a political party received enough votes to form a majority government.

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suggested that Law and Justice's strategy of putting forward Szydło as its candidate for prime minister was a "winning formula" in the election. Szydło was widely perceived as being more moderate than PiS' outspoken leader,

Jarosław Kaczyński Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński (; born 18 June 1949) is a Polish politician who is currently serving as leader of the Law and Justice party (known by its Polish acronym PiS), which he co-founded in 2001 with his twin brother, Lech Kaczyński, ...

. However, it also noted that Kaczyński could step into the role of prime minister after the election. According to the

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, the new Sejm was the most right-wing parliament in Europe due to the absence of centre-left MPs in the chamber. All five parties in the Sejm tilted rightward on social issues. Between them, left-leaning alliances only gained 11 percent of the vote. Kopacz swiftly conceded defeat after exit polls from TVP showed PiS on its way to a majority, while Kaczyński declared victory and hailed his party's historic majority. Kaczyński also paid tribute to his late brother, President Lech Kaczyński, who died in the 2010 plane crash.

Notes

References

{{Elections in Poland

Parliamentary elections in Poland October 2015 events in Europe